Annual Birthday Letter to my Oldest Son

My precious oldest son,

Today you become an eight year old.  For more than eight years you have been bringing joy to my life and those around you.  Truly, you are a blessing and an answer to many prayers.  I am thankful for you son, every single day. 

What a year it has been!  Each year we try to give you and your brother new experiences.  Not to spoil you, my sweet son, but because we want you to see how big and full of opportunity the world is.  Opportunities to help others, opportunities to be brave, opportunities to have fun, make a difference, be kind and learn something new.  It is a fact that we are blessed to live in a country where opportunities are endless.  Your own grandfathers, as well as other family members, have sacrificed to ensure that.  It’s important, my dear big boy, to always remember that and be thankful.  I’m proud of you that at such a young age, you understand that and have taken advantage of those opportunities presented to you.  Like the time we volunteered at our local food pantry, you went right to work vacuuming, setting up tables and doing whatever was asked of you with a joyful heart.  And remember your birthday last year?  Instead of presents, you asked everyone to bring supplies for the local animal shelter.  I love your giving heart.

We also visited Gatlinburg, TN for the first time this year.  We went for RezKids and had such a BLAST!   We got to worship in a fun way and even sat right in the front row at your very first concert.  We saw Go Fish and loved them!  We also rode the ski lift for the first time and it reminded us of when we parasailed.  How blessed we were that even though it was January, the weather was wonderful!

This is your last year at “little kid elementary.”  It seems like just yesterday I dropped you off for kindergarten and soon you will be heading off to third grade at the new “big boy elementary.”  You are excited and ready to go.  I am trying to slow down time.

You played soccer again this year for the Griffins and your team had a great season.  We just began baseball season and you are playing for the Angels.  I was so proud of you during the first game, you scored two runs and got one out.  Do you know what impressed me the most though?  Your sportsmanship.  As you played catcher, you congratulated every single player on the opposing team that came across home plate.  May you always keep a humble and kind heart.  Always know, my beautiful boy that I don’t care about winning or losing.  Your character is so much more important.

Again you are excelling at school.  I’m so happy that you LOVE learning, I learn something new on a daily basis from you.  Thank you for keeping me on my toes!

You are still fascinated by weather.  I understand this.  I could sit and watch tornado hunting shows with you all day (we never have, but we could)!  You check the skies daily and inform me what type of clouds there are, you search for clues about coming weather patterns and give me your forecast every single day.  You say you want to be a tornado hunter and work for NASA as a meteorologist when you grow up so you can combine your love of space and weather.  You amaze me.

I could go on and on.  I could write an entire book about how much I love you and how you amaze me, about your wonderful heart, your funny sense of humor, your amazing character and all of the things you, my precious son, have taught me.  I would rather, however, tell you those things in person….daily.

I love you Nicholas Gabriel.  I wish you the happiest of birthdays and that the coming year is your best ever.

Always and forever, to the moon and back,

Mommy

Your annual birthday video can be found here.

Last year's letter and video can be found here.